Families : Our Jewish Home - Central Agency for Jewish Education

Families : Our Jewish Home

The Our Jewish Home program continues to grow and receive national recognition for its success with families with preschool- and kindergarten-aged children.

This program features trained family educators who visit families in their homes four times per year. Specifically designed resource materials are the trademark of this program.

Whatever a family’s background, Our Jewish Home can help make Judaism more meaningful for the family. The program brings a Jewish educator into the home with an individualized curriculum to meet the needs and interests of each family.

Who Can Participate?

Jewish families of all backgrounds with children between the ages of 3 and 6 who wish to enhance their own family observances and practices. Older and younger siblings can also participate.

Who Are the Educators?

Trained Our Jewish Home Educators from diverse backgrounds are carefully matched with participating families.

Program Features

Four individualized home visits covering: Passover, Shabbat, Fall Holidays and Jewish Values/Mitzvot
Creative hands-on activities for the whole family
A variety of specially developed materials, fun activities and ideas for enriching Jewish home life

Home Visit Overview

The Pesach home visit provides the family with the tools necessary for making and/or enhancing a Seder for young children, whether the Seder takes place in the family's own home or not. Puppet frogs, a Fill the Seder Plate game and traditional recipes are some of the elements of this curriculum.

During the Shabbat visit, Our Jewish Home educators braid and bake challah with the families. A series of games and activities illustrate the rituals of Shabbat.

The Tishrei Holidays home visit highlights Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah with an emphasis on the home celebration of these holidays.

The final visit covers Mitzvot/Jewish Values. Mitzvot and Jewish values are explored on a level that is age-appropriate for the family .

The Our Jewish Home program makes use of activities and supplies created specifically for each curriculum. In addition, coordinators may maintain a small lending library of Jewish puzzles, audiotapes, videotapes, and toys. Family educators may check these out and use them to supplement the materials provided.

How To Sign Up

Registration forms for the 2009 program are now available. Complete and send to Joan Wolchansky at CAJE by January 2009.

An OJH educator will call you in late February/early March to set up your first home visit for March, the Passover curriculum.

Our Jewish Home Registration Form (PDF File)

For more information, including program fee, please contact Joan Wolchansky, Senior Program Director, at (314) 442-3760.

Testimonials

"What a pleasure it has been for my family to participate in Our Jewish Home. The primary reason we chose to participate was for my husband and I to increase our knowledge of Judaism and to find ways to create a Jewish atmosphere for our children. Our goal was met and exceeded by your program!"

"One of the most impressive things about Our Jewish Home is the materials that were shared. The notebook, inserts and additional handouts have been most informative while providing fun and useful recipes, games, prayers, history and traditions. I feel comfortable in speaking for my entire family when I say how well thought-out, organized and creative this material has been for our reference and everyday use."

"I would also like to mention our family's Our Jewish Home educator. She has the gift of being both professional and personable. Every member of the family enjoys when she comes toting games, cooking and art projects and other information. Our educator was able to tailor the home visits to the needs of our family and made it user-friendly for our children, as well as for us."

"Thank you for a job so well done. We are all most appreciative of this fun hands on, experiential ways to learn."

Useful Links

www.Jewishfamily.com Webzine featuring over a dozen departments, weekly columns, and discussions. Links to Jewish cyberstores.

www.InterfaithFamily.com Practical articles relevant and helpful to interfaith families.

www.modernjewishman.com Helping moms make Jewish homes.

Resources

Yosef I. Abramowitz and Rabbi Susan Silverman, Jewish Family & Life, Golden Books, 1997. (Family-friendly guide to how to incorporate Jewish traditions into modern lives.)

Bradley Shavit Artson, It's A Mitzvah , Behrman House/Rabbinical Assembly, 1995. (Defines and explains core mitzvot (commandments) and values, tells their sources, and gives suggestions for how to observe them.)

Julie Hilton Danan, Jewish Parent's Almanac, Jason Aronson, 1993. (A complete guidebook to raising Jewish children from birth through the teen years.)

Anita Diamant, How to be Jewish, Schochken Books, 2000. (Practical guide for Jewish family life.)

Joel Lurie Grishaver, 40 Things You Can Do to Save the Jewish People , Alef Design Group, 1993. (Practical suggestions for raising Jewish children in a secular world. Very readable with vignettes about "real" situations.)

Meredith L. Jacobs, The Modern Jewish Mom's Guide to Shabbat, Harper, 2007. (Addresses how to incorporate Shabbat into contemporary family life.)

Dr. Wendy Mogel, The Blessing of A Skinned Knee , Penguin Compass, 2001. (How to use Jewish teachings to raise self-reliant children. One of the best parenting books published.)